£7.99

Ebo Taylor / Conflict Vinyl LP Collection - Vinyl

Price - £25.99

Both classic Ebo Taylor albums on separate vinyl LP's + MP3 download

Ebo Taylor & Uhuru Yenzu - Conflict

The five tracks that make up Conflict are a perfect example of Taylorʼs trademark approach that saw him inject a heavy dose of funk into Ghanaʼs traditional highlife grooves in an attempt to move away from what he saw as the musicʼs more traditional qualities. The album opens with the highlife of You Need Love, a track with catchy chants, horn riffs and guitar licks, and soon moves into funkier territories starting with Love and Death and then What Is Life?, a song with thicker grooves and a flute offset against the horn section. Christ Will Come is a highlight combining percussion with funky drums, flute and horns to devastating effect for what is essentially a bit of an apocalyptic jam heralding Christʼs return on judgement day. The album closes with Victory. Based on a traditional song of the Asafo people, the song puts forward the horn section over a rapid groove and calls for the unity of all mankind. Taylorʼs arrangements and funky grooves combined with lyrics that touch on subjects ranging from love to religion make Conflict a stand out opus of Ghanaian afro-funk thatʼs ripe for rediscovery.

Conflict is being reissued by Mr Bongo as part of their ʻClassic African Recordingsʼ series. The LP features fully reproduced original artwork. Produced on heavyweight vinyl. Limited Edition LPs. CD (coming soon) in beautiful digipack format with Obi

The six songs that make up the album exemplify Taylorʼs desire to experiment and move beyond the constraints of colonial influences on Highlife and African musical traditions. Saana combines highlife guitars and jazz horns with a funked up rhythm and the sweetest chants, a vibe carried over on Ntsir A with its funky horns and Ghanaian singing. Throughout the album Taylor injects elements of funk, jazz and afrobeat into his compositions without being obvious, instead channelling the experimentation he once referred to as ʻa way to develop our African music to enable us to get global attention.ʼ Heaven is perhaps the albumʼs highlight and widely recognised as one of the finest examples of Ghanaian afrobeat from the late 70s. Its popularity has endured through the decades and the song even found a new lease of life after Usher sampled it.

Ebo Taylor is being reissued by Mr Bongo as part of their ʻClassic African Recordingsʼ series, giving fans of Afrobeat and the more adventurous Ghanaian music a chance to finally experience the album in all its glory.

This vinyl LP features fully reproduced original artwork. Pressed on heavyweight vinyl. CD (coming soon) is presented in a digipack format with Obi.